God Who Judges the EarthTo the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam[I]Probably a musical or liturgical term of David.581Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?[J]Or mighty lords (by revocalization; Hebrew in silence)Do you judge the children of man uprightly?2No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;your hands deal out violence on earth.3The wicked are estranged from the womb;they go astray from birth, speaking lies.4They have venom like the venom of a serpent,like the deaf adder that stops its ear,5so that it does not hear the voice of charmersor of the cunning enchanter.6O God, break the teeth in their mouths;tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!7Let them vanish like water that runs away;when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.8Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.9Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away![K]The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain10The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.11Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;surely there is a God who judges on earth.”